The Miller Inside and Out

The relationship between the Miller and the Miller’s Tale is close, for the tale is a reflection of the teller. The Miller’s tale is a fabliau, a genre best described as a short story full of ribald and humor. The Miller’s tale consists of events of “cuckoldry” (Chaucer 1720), “foolishness” (1718), and “secrets” (1719). Telling such a story, the Miller can immediately be classified as a man of low social status with a vulgar sense of humor full of shrewdness. However, as the tale continues, it reveals the unexpected soft side of the Miller as he sympathizes with the distressed woman trapped in the norms of society. Thus, the Miller’s characteristics of obscenity, deception, and sympathy drive the plot of his tale.

In his attempt to surpass the Knight, the Miller sacrifices decorum for the sake of entertainment, reflecting his bawdy nature. When first traveling with the Miller, Chaucer listened to the Miller bellow “his ballads and jokes of harlotries” (1712). Scandalous topics appear throughout the Miller’s tale of a young girl “so graceful and so slim” named Alison who cheats on her husband, John, with his student, Nicholas (1720). When “handy Nicholas” first encounters Alison, he “[catches] her between the legs” and woos her, and they devise a plan to sleep with each other secretly (1721). This lecherous scheme fuels the entire plot of the tale. However, the parish clerk Absolom with his “gray eyes” and “nightingale” nature, typical attributes of lusty men, attempts to win Alison’s heart (1722, 1723). Although Absolom utilizes every method to win Alison’s heart even chewing “licorice and cardamom,” he ends up kissing her “bare bum” whereas Nicholas sleeps with her (1729, 1730). Chaucer’s initial encounter with the drunken Mi...

... middle of paper ...

...nsequences (1732). By justifying Alison’s actions and letting her remain unharmed, the Miller sympathizes with the helpless Alison, revealing his unexpected sensitive quality.

The drunken Miller tells his tale of obscenity, deception, and sympathy in his attempt to surpass the Knight. Although his physical traits and actions characterize the Miller as bawdy and dishonest, his hidden sympathy for Alison reveals he is somewhat gentle. Each character resembles the Miller’s attributes. Nicholas is both deceitful and lusty while Absolom is just lusty. Alison’s helplessness may exist since the Miller is helpless in his own life, causing him to steal in order to survive in the medieval society since it was harder for poorer men to make a living. Thus, the manifestations of the Miller’s characteristics and their outcomes bring light to the Miller’s true humane nature.